Bloomberg Added Home No. 11 in 2011, His Tax Records Show

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg may rule New York City, but he is also expanding his empire in Westchester County.

For a modest — by billionaire standards — $4.55 million, Mr. Bloomberg bought a 33-acre estate in North Salem last year, according to tax returns and public records reviewed on Friday. The new property is likely to be combined with an adjacent 20-acre estate that Mr. Bloomberg has owned in North Salem since 2001 for the use of his daughter, Georgina, an accomplished equestrienne.

Mr. Bloomberg now owns three properties in Westchester — in addition to the two in North Salem, he owns property in Armonk — and 11 homes around the world. He has three in Manhattan, including his primary residence on East 79th Street, a Park Avenue condominium and an East 78th Street town house where his foundation and Willett Advisors, the firm that invests money for the mayor and his foundation, operate.

He also owns homes in Bermuda; London; Southampton, N.Y.; Vail, Colo.; and Wellington, Fla. The Hamptons home — a 35-acre estate — was also acquired in 2011.

Details about Mr. Bloomberg’s real estate holdings were among the more intriguing tidbits in his 2011 tax returns and financial disclosure documents, which the mayor allowed reporters to inspect.

Politicians are not obligated to disclose their tax returns, but many elected officials, including President Obama and Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., do so. Mr. Bloomberg, the founder of Bloomberg L. P. and one of the richest men in the country, has chosen a different route — each year, he allows reporters to review, but not copy, his federal and state tax returns at the Midtown offices of his accountant, Geller & Company.

The mayor limits access to his finances because he believes that too much information could aid corporate competitors of his privately held company, according to his spokesman, Stu Loeser.

The mayor pays a federal tax rate of 34.69 percent, just shy of the highest possible rate, before deducting for his significant charitable contributions. He also pays more than $1 million a year in city property taxes, Mr. Loeser said.

Mr. Bloomberg owns 85 percent of Bloomberg L.P., and the company is the source of much of his wealth, Mr. Loeser said. To review Mr. Bloomberg’s financial records is to understand just how much his company has recently prospered, with nearly 100 subsidiaries listed, almost double the number in 2005.

In 2011, Mr. Bloomberg helped his ex-wife, Susan, with at least two financial transactions: He provided a bridge loan of more than $500,000 so she could buy a new apartment, while she waited to close on the sale of her previous one, and he transferred more than $500,000 into a trust in her name.

Mr. Bloomberg created an entity called Hilltop Stables L.L.C. — the name a nod to its possible use for equestrian purposes — to buy the property in North Salem, at 39 Hilltop Drive. The property was once an exercise ground for elephants, several of which were imported to the town for a circus in the mid-1800s, according to Cynthia Curtis, the president of the North Salem Historical Society.

The mayor bought the property from Joseph J. Pinto — the same man from whom he purchased his first North Salem property, on Titicus Road, in 2001. In 2011, Mr. Pinto paid Mr. Bloomberg between $100,000 and $250,000 in rent to remain in the contemporary 4,400-square-foot house at 39 Hilltop Drive.

It is not clear whether Mr. Pinto still lives on the property, which includes a barn, a free-standing three-car garage, an additional cottage and a horse-riding rink, according to records at the town’s assessment office. Property taxes are about $56,000 a year.

It is also unclear if the mayor plans to keep the existing house, or tear it down to create more open space. No work permits have been submitted to the town since the mayor bought the property. But he paid between $5,000 and $44,000 in repairs, and as much as $5,000 on landscaping, according to his tax returns.

Residents of the town said it was common for landowners to buy adjoining plots to prevent any unwanted encroachments on their properties.

The Bloomberg family usually keeps a low profile, said one neighbor, Bill Wilson. But they regularly hold a Fourth of July fireworks party, he said.

Ms. Curtis, of the historical society, said Mr. Bloomberg has hosted cocktail parties and fund-raisers for local groups on his Titicus Road property; at one, the mayor greeted guests as they came in from the driveway.

Ms. Curtis said the mayor had been “very gracious” with the locals. “He’s maintained his property to perfection,” she said. “It’s an asset to the town; it’s absolutely beautiful.”

A version of this article appears in print on May 26, 2012, on page A17 of the New York edition with the headline: Bloomberg Added Home No. 11 In 2011, His Tax Records Show. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe